Highlights of City Accomplishments

CITY OF ECORSE, WAYNE COUNTY, MICHIGAN · AUGUST 25, 2020

The Place to Be on the Detroit River 2

REDEVELOPMENT • Boards & • Predictable Commissions Development READY (RRC) Review Process • Master Plan Review Neighborhood • Recreation Plan • Ecorse continues to Stabilization Program implement RRC best • City Hall (Private & Public) Improvements practices: • Inventory of City Quality of Life ($10,000 grant) • Owned Property • Focus on City Assets • Public Safety

• Blight Elimination • Ordinance Update • Park Improvements • Good Governance • Smart Cities Initiative • Infrastructure • Training • Mayor & City Council Improvements Financial Forecast & Administrative • • • Good Customer Sustainability Leadership & Staff Service 3 WEST JEFFERSON CORRIDOR PLAN

Corridor revitalization. ($40,000 grant) Improvements to the streetscape and other public infrastructure will support the City’s quality of life and increase the tax base. Progressive plan – joint partnership between Ecorse and River Rouge.

The Place to Be on the Detroit River. 4 WEST JEFFERSON AVENUE CORRIDOR PLAN 5 WEST JEFFERSON CORRIDOR PLAN

Reclaim the waterfront. Five miles of beautiful, Pure Michigan waterfront. Transform the Detroit River waterfront into a vibrant, mixed-use district with housing, restaurants, and entertainment. 6 DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (DDA)

Implementing the West Jefferson Avenue Plan. ($32,000 grant) • Established boundaries • On track with TIF Plan preparation • Appointment of the Board • McKenna to staff DDA and collaborate with River Rouge 7

LAND BANK KEY PROPERTIES

Acquire valuable properties to ensure future projects are aligned with the vision of Ecorse’s Master Plan, and Zoning Ordinance. 8

ROWING CLUB REDEVELOPMENT

Recreation for all. (applying for $250,000 CDBG grant) Transforming the Detroit Riverfront into a public, recreational amenity for the community. 9 ECORSE CREEK GREENWAY

Revitalization. Ecorse Creek has the potential to be at the center of the region’s blue economy. 10 ECORSE CREEK CLEAN UP

Community involvement. (2 grants, for a total of $103,500, plus $40,000 in developer contributions) A well attended community event – furthers the regional waterway plan. 11

ECORSE CREEK

Regional creek connections. 12

US STEEL REDEVELOPMENT

Becoming THE destination on the Detroit River. Vision: 5 miles of activated riverfront with a vibrant mix of housing, entertainment, restaurants and recreation. 13

US STEEL REDEVELOPMENT

Becoming THE destination on the Detroit River. +24 acres of waterfront redevelopment; estimated true cash value: ±$900,000*

+5 acres: Stevenson facility with adjacent parking lot; estimated true cash value: ±$200,000*

*per assessor records 14

US STEEL REDEVELOPMENT

Waterfront RFQ, $8,500 from State funding: Total estimated true cash value, per assessor records: $1.1 million 15

MILL STREET REDEVELOPMENT

Received ±$122,000 in State funding for: • Updated environmental review • Identification of utility and infrastructure needs • Market study and talent profile • Site access evaluation 16

MILL STREET REDEVELOPMENT

Released RFP for August, 2020. Mill Street is a high priority development area – located close to the international border and access to freeways and rail, it is large in area and vacant, plus it is owned by the City with gives us flexibility to work with development interests for the best results. 17 NEIGHBORHOOD REVITALIZATION PROGRAM

To-date: • Demolished 300 structures • Enabled 150 home rehabilitation projects • Created 640 buildable lots • Transported a 262- unit public housing facility 18 HOUSING & RETAIL MARKET STUDY

Target Market Analysis. ($75,000 grant) Identifies in-demand housing, retail and income properties and where they are located. Forecasts the type of housing, demographic groups and businesses that Ecorse will attract. Partnership with River Rouge. 19

MASTER PLAN REVIEW

Confirmed until 2025. $2,500 in State funding 20

UPDATED ZONING ORDINANCE

Adopted July, 2020. $40,000 in State funding 21

WHITE HOUSE COLLABORATION High impact National attention: projects include: Ecorse met with • Ecorse Creek members of the White • W. Jefferson House Office of Special Avenue Advisors, Mr. Ja’Ron Smith and Ms. Melissa • Neighborhood Ford Maldonado to Stabilization discuss key economic Program development projects. • US Steel Redevelopment • Mill Street Redevelopment PARTNERSHIPS & 22 COLLABORATION

Key Partnerships: Federal Government Governor’s Office Sheriff Dept. - new IGA State Treasury Department DNR & EGLE US Steel Corporation Detroit Riverfront Conservancy Friends of the Detroit River Riverside Kayak Southern Wayne County Chamber of Commerce Detroit Int. Wildlife Refuge Metro Convention Bureau MEDC 23 DOWNRIVER ECONOMIC SUMMIT

Regional growth. Ecorse was featured during this major forum by Larry Steckelberg of the Michigan Treasury Department. 24

DESTINATION DOWNRIVER

Ecorse’s new partnership with 17 communities. The City is committed to collaborative efforts to achieve regional success. 25

DESTINATION DOWNRIVER https://born-raised-downriver- michigan.myshopify.com/collect ions/destination-downriver Funding Source Amount Received / Project 26 Wayne County CDBG $125,000 in 2018 > FISCAL *300% increase $500,000 in 2019 SUCCESS Unfunded Health Care Liabilities 6.8 million total savings, with: *savings, without changes to Annual healthcare premium savings of $300,000 (retirees) & $74,000 the quality of benefits (current employees) Total revenue raised: Cares Act +$100,000 State Treasury $38,500 (Master Plan, DDA, etc.) $2.21 million State Treasury $75,000 (Housing & Retail Study, with River Rouge) State Treasury $20,000 (Jefferson Plan) State Treasury $22,000 (Mill Street) Total City savings: MDOT $800,000 (Jefferson Bicycle Lanes) MDOT $250,000 (Re-pavement Project) $6.8 million EGLE $15,000 (Ecorse Creek) National Wildlife Fund $102,000 (Kayak Launch), +$40,000 in developer contributions Great Lakes Water Restoration $1,500 (Ecorse Creek Clean-up) Balanced and MSHDA $15,000 surplus budget last MEDC $50,000 (Zoning Ordinance / RRC) 3-years. MEDC $100,000 (Mill Street, Site Readiness Grant) Ralph C. Wilson Foundation $30,000 (Jefferson Street Design) Southeast Community Foundation $50,000 (match for Bicycle Lanes) In-kind Contributions / Services $47,000 (match for kayak launch) *Additional savings with escrows collected for legal services. 27

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. Mayor, Lamar Tidwell 28

Mayor Pro Tem, Darcel Brown Council Members: Donald Agee, John Miller, THANK YOU Montel Love, & DeVonte Sherard

Thank you to the Richard Marsh Terri Beaumont dedicated and resilient • City Administrator • Deputy Assessor staff and supportive • Human Resource Director • Community Development Manager Council and • Economic Development Director Timothy Sadowski Administrative team. Christina Parker • City Controller • Administrative, Finance & Marcia Cotton Treasury Specialist • Deputy Controller

Michael Moore • HR Support • Public Safety Director Dana Hughes • Code Enforcement Director • City Clerk Kevin Lawrence Dave Sapp • Director of Public Works & General Services • IT Director • Parks and Recreation Here's how Ecorse is planning to implement a bold vision of revitalization

METROMODE PARTNER CONTENT | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020

John D. Dingell Park, Ecorse. Photo by David Lewinski Ocials at the city of Ecorse have a bold vision for transforming their community into a commercial, recreational, and residential hub – and they've got a broad range of economic development strategies to make it a reality.

Since Ecorse came out of state receivership in 2017, city staff have been working hard to plan a bright new future for their community. Along with city leaders, they've developed a comprehensive plan to revitalize West Jefferson Avenue, the city's main thoroughfare, and turn it into a walkable mixed-use corridor connected to a newly activated Detroit riverfront. They're working to redevelop the city-owned 58-acre Mill Street site. And they're re-envisioning Ecorse Creek as a well-tracked site for outdoor recreation.

However, City Administrator Richard Marsh says a full arsenal of economic development tools will be needed to see all those goals through.

“It’s going to take a variety of resources," Marsh says. "It’s going to take partnerships and collaboration because obviously Ecorse can’t do it alone.”

Here are a few of the key strategies Ecorse is using to realize a revitalized future.

Blight elimination

Marsh says blight elimination is "so essential" to the city's vision for economic redevelopment, particularly its plans for the Jefferson corridor.

"Without the blight elimination, you can’t retain what you have and you can’t attract anything new," he says. "It has to be a high priority to eliminate eyesores, the vacant buildings that can be torn down.”

Ecorse Community Development Manager Terri Beaumont says the community has been working on demolishing blighted structures since 2015 when a Michigan State Housing Development Authority Hardest Hit grant allowed Ecorse to demolish 180 properties. Wayne County Community Development Block Grants have funded the demolition of another 30-plus property since then and helped the community defray costs of its code enforcement ocers.

Beaumont says the city is currently planning to demolish several properties on Jefferson, including an old car wash, an old restaurant, and two houses. She and other city staff hope to see mixed-use developments with street-level commercial usage and second-oor apartments arise where the blight once stood. But Ecorse Mayor Lamar Tidwell says in any case, he'd "rather have empty lots than an old, beat-up building."

"We've still got challenges and we've still got problems, but Rome wasn't built overnight," says Tidwell, who has made blight elimination a priority since he was elected mayor in 2013. "You've got to just keep chipping away."

Ecorse Mayor Lamar Tidwell. Photo by David Lewinski

Building partnerships

Another crucial part of Ecorse's economic development strategy has been building partnerships with numerous community organizations and governmental bodies at the local and state level. The city's partners include Wayne County, Lincoln Park, Wyandotte, River Rouge, the Michigan State Department of Treasury, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), the Downriver Community Conference, the Detroit International Wildlife Refuge, Riverside Kayak Connection, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, and many others. Some are providing funding, while others offer strategic input.

"I can never overemphasize the fact of how supportive and critical they’ve been to getting us where we are today," Marsh says.

Partners meeting to plan for the future of the Mill Street Development site. Photo by David Lewinski.

Finding funding through new and existing partnerships is particularly key to Ecorse's upcoming efforts to do environmental cleanup work on both the Mill Street site and Ecorse Creek. The city is currently conducting an environmental assessment at Mill Street, but Marsh says any potential cleanup likely won't be a challenge thanks to the browneld grant funding available to the city through its partners at the Downriver Community Conference and EGLE.

A different kind of cleanup is key to the city's strategy for increasing Ecorse Creek's appeal to kayakers and other outdoor enthusiasts. Marsh says the city has applied for a $100,000 Southeast Michigan Resilience Fund grant to improve habitat quality and improve public space.

“There’s no contamination in the creek, but we desire to enhance its curb appeal," Marsh says. "We’re going to put some benches and lighting along the creek as well.”

Building a DDA

Ecorse is also in the process of re-establishing its Downtown Development Authority (DDA), which will be instrumental in carrying out the changes outlined in the city's West Jefferson Corridor Plan. City staff are currently identifying potential DDA board members and considering the boundaries of the DDA's jurisdiction.

"It would be a coordinating body," says Sally Hodges, planning consultant at Ecorse city planner McKenna. "They would seek grants, look for funding alternatives, and work towards implementing all those goals in the West Jefferson plan. And through the DDA, tax increment nancing for Ecorse public improvements is a possibility."

Condos along the West Jefferson Corridor. Photo by David Lewinski.

The DDA will meet monthly, in addition to quarterly joint meetings with neighboring River Rouge's DDA. The joint meetings will allow the two DDAs to collaborate in improving the Jefferson corridor in a unied way through both communities.

Marsh says the city's efforts to revitalize Jefferson and the riverfront are "intertwined," especially given the West Jefferson Corridor Plan's proposal for redeveloping a 24-acre former U.S. Steel site between Jefferson and the river. As a result, the DDA will be heavily involved with the riverfront project. But Hodges says the DDA will also have broad positive spin-offs for all the city's revitalization efforts, including the Mill Street site, Ecorse Creek, and others.

"Simply having a DDA will strengthen the city’s image and the success rate for all kinds of development, because the DDA shows the commitment of the elected bodies and the involvement of the businesses," she says.

A critical goal

Hodges says all these strategies are in service of a critical goal: repopulation.

"Repopulating the community is essential to halting decline and making it a desirable place for people and for businesses," she says. "Without population, you can't support commercial development. People want to live near where they work and where they can walk to services if there are good, desirable residential alternatives."

To make that happen, she says, "it's all about maintaining the teams, keeping the focus, keeping it moving, and working together to make it happen." Tidwell agrees, noting that the community is "just chipping away little by little" to realize the dream of a community known for its mixed-use developments, outdoor recreation, and pedestrian- and bike-friendliness.

"We think Ecorse is one of Downriver's best-kept secrets," he says. "I always tell people we're 15 minutes from the airport, we're 15 minutes from downtown, we're eight minutes from the train station, and we're right on the water."

Marsh says the city's main challenge is to maintain focus on its vision and persevere.

“We have to understand that progress doesn’t come without some kind of struggle, and it will take time," he says. "But it will happen. It didn’t happen like this overnight, and it won’t be revitalized and turned around overnight.”